Page:Vedic Grammar.djvu/115

 III. Accent. Accent in Sandhi. Sentence Accent.

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that is to say, when, having the full force of the case, it occupies the most emphatic position; e. g. dgne supayani bhava (i. i^"^) 'O Agni, be easy of access'; lirjo napat sahasavan (x. iis^""} 'O mighty son of strength'; hStar yavistha sukrato (1V.4"'') 'O most youthful, skilful priest'. This rule also applies to doubly accented dual compounds, as mitravaruna (i. 15^'') '0 Mitra and Varuna' (N. mitrd-vdruna).

a. Two or more vocatives at the beginning of a Pada are all accented; e. g. ddiU, m'Ura, varuna (II. 27^4^); iirjo napad, bhadrasoce (vill. 71"') 'O son of strength, O propitiously bright one' i.

b. The vocative, when it does not begin the sentence, loses its accent, being unemphatic as referring only incidentally to a person already invoked; e. g. rtena mitravarunav rtavrdhav rtaspria (i. 2') 'through Law, O Mitra and Varuna, lovers and cherishers of Law'; vpa tvajxgne dive-dive, dosa-vastar dhiya vaydin |. . . Smasi (i. i^ 'to thee, O Agni, day by day, O illuminer of darkness, with prayer we come'; a rajana^ maha rtasya gopa (vii. 64^) 'hither (come), O ye two sovereign guardians of great order'; ydd, indra brahmanas-pate, abhidrohdm cdramasi (x. i64'*)3 'if, O Indra, Brahmanas- pati, we commit an offence'*.

a. The vocative, whether at the beginning of or within a, sentence, not being regarded as part of it, does not interfere with the normal accentuation of the sentence. Hence a verb |at the beginning of a sentence, following a vocative, is accented as the first word of the sentence; while a verb within a sentence, following a vocative, remains unaccented; e. g. deva, jivaia (AV. XIX. 70') 'O gods, live'; astni it su, vrsana, madayetham (i. 1842) 'beside us, ye two heroes, enjoy yourselves'.

no. The verb. — A. The finite verb in a principal sentence is unaccented except when it is the first word; e. g. agnim tie purohitam (i. i^) 'I praise Agni, the domestic priest'; but ile agnim vipasdtam (in. 27^) 'I praise Agni the wise'. This rule and its exception must, however, be understood with the following restrictions:

1. A sentence is regarded as capable of having only one verb. Hence all other verbs syntactically connected with the subject of the first, are accented as beginning new sentences (a subject or object coming between two such verbs being generally counted to the first); e. g. tesam pahi, srudhi hdvatn (i. 2') 'drink of them, hear our call'; asmdbhyam jesi yStsi ca (i. i32t) 'conquer and fight for us'; tardnir ij jayati,ksM, pusyati (vii. 32?) 'the energetic man conquers, rules, thrives'; jahi prajAm ndyasva ca (KSf. i. 83) 'slay the progeny and bring (it) hither'.

2. The verb, though not beginning a sentence, receives the accent if it coincides with the beginning of a Pada (which is treated as the beginning of a new sentence); e. g. dtha te dntamanam vidy&ma sumatinam (i. 43J.

3. Since a vocative (or vocatives) at the beginning of a sentence is treated as extraneous to it, the verb which immediately follows it becomes the first word of the sentence and is accordingly accented; e.g. dgne,jusdsva

1 Here bhadrasoce is treated as an in- dependent vocative; it would lose its accent if intended to form a compound expression with urjo napat = 'O propitously bright son of strength', as is the case m hotar yavisiha sukrato.

2 When the first word of u compound vocative is an adjective (not a genitive), it retains its accent within a Pada; thus vUve devasah 'O All-gods', would appear within a Pada as well as at the beginning.

3 This is an example of two distinct

vocatives. The preceding example may contain two also, as the accent of two as well as of one vocative would be lost within a Pada; but i raj ana stood at the beginning of a Pada, the accentuation would be rajana inaha rtasya gopa, supposing two vocatives were intended.

4 The very rare exceptions to the rules given above (a, b) are doubtless due to errors on the part of the editors or of tra- dition.